Amera
by tuimoftheeast
Summary: During a great war, Amera, daughter of Claidi and Argul, picks up a pen and journal...and the story begins
1. Chapter One

Chapter One

A/N: I have revised the entire story! This should make you all incredibly happy. Because you love me.  Anyway, enjoy! –Tuim

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Claudi Journal characters mentioned. I am simply writing this because I can. And if others want to read it…well have at it! I am horrid with disclaimers lately though so this shall have to apply to all the chappies in this story. Thank you.

It's been a long, long day. The wheels on the wagon keep turning and the dust from the waste outside keeps blowing in through the windows. The dust does nothing to help my mother's condition, if anything it worsens it! For you see, my dear made up friend, my mother has been infected with The Sickness.

I suppose that before I tell you about The Sickness and the Dark Towers I should fill you in on a little background information. Not that it matters, you are just a figment of my imagination, but I'm going to do it anyway.

My name is Amera. I have an older brother named Jame and my parents are the famed Claidi and Argul. I am fifteen years old and I am currently in the wagon which belongs to my parents trying to aid my mother who I have never seen this ill before.

In fact, I wouldn't even be writing to you my make-believe confident if not for that woman who is lying there, not moving, lost to the world. Yesterday, you see, I found her journals and I… read them. I feel endlessly guilty about this fact but nonetheless it's true. I read and read engrossed in my mother's fascinating life.

My life will never be that interesting; sorry to tell you so soon in our relationship, but nothing I write on these pages could ever compete with that! I saw how she wrote mostly only in her times of confusion (I get the feeling that she used the books to vent her emotions) but no matter the reason she started them in the first place, I feel a strong urge to write a journal myself.

It's odd…as we near the safe village and draw farther and farther away from the dreaded Dark Towers my mother seems to become less and less sick. This is a very good thing because for a while there, I was sure we'd lost her.

Before we head onward to the safe village known only as Hultas, there is a planned stop at Peshamba which has become a regular trade route ever since that trip there that Mother and Father took long ago where Father almost proposed…

Oh, now then, the Dark Towers. The Dark Towers are always looming on the horizon it seems…and dark clouds swirl ominously about the towers far up in the air. There is where all of the great evil peoples of this world have come together...steadily becoming stronger. It has been this way ever since I can remember, although Father tells me that I once lived in the fresh, clean air of a world without this sickening fear of the towers.

Oh, my good friend Kendai calls to me now and so I must be off!


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Peace and quiet once again! We near Peshamba with every breathe I take. It is night and the stars spread above me like a blanket of shining black, blue, and silver. Normally we the Hultas rest at night and sleep in the stopped wagons quite peacefully, but nothing is normal anymore. Father has ordered for us to move as fast as we can to reach our goal of first Peshamba and then Hultas.

The sky surrounding the horrid towers remains a foreboding black which lets no star's light shine through so that even at night we can tell it's still there, still planning it's evil ways and it's twisted schemes. Just the thought chills most to the bone. Now, though, I am warm and snug in my own wagon which continues on and in into the darkness.

Kendai, after questioning me about this book, fell right to sleep in a bundle of blankets inside the wagon we share. Perhaps it would be wise of my to do the same…a feeling inside of me tells me that tomorrow is going to be an eventful day!

I woke up this morning all stiff and sore and, truth to tell, a bit grumpy. Oh how that changed throughout the day! I am still going over it in my head, disbelieving, yet there he is, fast asleep in our makeshift infirmary wagon.

But, first things first, I woke up and Kendai and I went through our usual routine of washing our hands and faces and tiding up the wagon. By this time, you could see Peshamba in the distance and I couldn't wait to get there and attend the lively festival always held there whenever we go. By the way Kendai had been acting all morning, she was more than a little excited about this event as well.

There had been a time when a little festival would not only have been routine but the people became tired of them! This is not the time. Moments of merriment were few and far between for any people now. Hard times have fallen upon us, and all because of those terrible towers that I have never seen except in the distance.

The routine continued as we felt the wagons come to a screeching stop and we all left from our places and got together at a spot near the end of our wagon train where collapsible tables were being set up. The delicious scents of Hulta food drifted over to Kendai and me and we quickened our pace. Halfway through the meal, though, there was a terrific boom that filled the air and seemed to stay in the air as if intent on surrounding us and smothering us with its power.

Everyone jumped up at once, fearing attack. Although the men were all yelling for the woman and children to get back into the wagons, curiosity got the better of me and I sprinted toward the edge of the wagons. Once I reached the edge it was obvious what the gigantic sound had been; Peshamba was on fire! And from the rubble road out a single figure upon a horse.

As the figure drew closer it became easy to see that it was a male, and he was wounded. Before anyone could think to do anything, the man was right in front of us, he lifted his head and somehow his gaze found mine, and I felt the cold of those piercing blue eyes. He was extremely handsome, but I couldn't admire his looks for long because then Father arrived at his side.

"You must get your people away from here as soon as possible!" The man's deep voice rang out and washed all over me and I felt as if I'd been punched in the stomach. "Peshamba is under attack!" With that final warning, the man fell from his horse to the ground and I, among others, rushed up to help.

"I will take care of him, Father!" I heard my own voice say. "And I'm sure Kendai would gladly help! Father looked at me for a long while, or at least it seemed long but it probably only lasted for a second or two.

"Fine!" He said. "We will bring him to the empty wagon on the far side over there!" My gaze followed his pointing finger.

And that is how I ended up here. In the wagon, caring for a beautiful stranger with Kendai, who was definitely glad to help, asleep at my side. What a day it's been and I'm only just begin-


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Sorry, I was interrupted there, that's why I was cut off so short. I was just writing along when all of the sudden a heard a voice…his voice.

"Hello? Hello? Where am I? What's going on?" I heard his voice saying that. That deep voice which made me feel funny all over. I answered him with a simple.

"Hello." I just sat there waiting for him to reply again after that. I'm just such a smart one aren't I? Ha! I wish.

"Er-yeah…Where are we?" He asked again clearly put back by my vague reply to his questions.

"We are in a wagon." Was my answer, amazing how dumb I was being! But by then I realized that he was waiting for something more so I added "My name is Amera, I'm of the Hulta people. You came riding out to warn us of some evil attacking Peshamba. You were hurt so we took you in here…" My voice trailed off, I didn't know what else to say! I felt awed by his presence. Later I would kick myself for not being…I don't know, charming or something.

My explanation seemed to be fine for him, though, and he replied, "I am Remel Dellen. Thank you for helping me…but tell me, were there any other survivors?"

I did not know what to say to this…no one else had come out from what was left of the city, but who could be positive if there was no one left in there… "No one followed you." I eventually spoke. "We're assuming that you're the only survivor, but who can be sure?" My words greeted silence. It seemed that this mysterious stranger did not feel the need to talk again.

Despite myself I was somewhat proud that I hadn't messed up the conversation worse. Then I remembered something. "If you want to know, my friend Kendai helped to care for you too." I said. "It is she that is asleep right next to me." I yawned and then realized that he, Remel, was not going to respond again.

Just before I dozed off into a sound sleep I heard him say quietly. "You can call me Reme." I was barely aware of it was when I awoke the next day I was sure that it hadn't been a dream. He pronounced it 'rem' but I think that to write like 'reme' makes it look more powerful and mighty…like the man himself.

Oh Kendai is calling me again! Making fun of this book, no doubt. Oh and I forgot to say that Mother is well again! She refuses to stay in the wagon but instead rides up front with Father. I admire her. And so I write again. I have to admit that this whole writing thing gets rather addictive…

Anyway I had quite an eventful day. Kendai woke me up pretty early, earlier than normal anyway, and since I hadn't gotten to sleep till late I wasn't in the best of moods.

"Kendai! Why did you wake me up?" I half shouted. I would have shouted if we had been in our own wagon, but since he was there I felt it would be only polite to only half shout it.

"Amera!" Kendai half shouted back. "We have chores to do, more than usual today and so I thought it only appropriate to wake up earlier so we could take care of it all!" I must admit, what Kendai said made a lot of sense. Damn her and her sense!

I groaned and stood. I was quite good at standing in a moving vehicle by then, we woman had been forced to stay in the wagons day and night except for meal times. I remember when I was young and I enjoyed riding my horse, Reena had been her name. I don't know what happened to her. All I know is that I no longer have the privilege of riding, the wind in my hair, the wind everywhere! I made one feel so alive! But dreaming is something that people who are unhappy tend to do, and I am mostly happy and so I shall stop telling you my dreams…for now.

Apparently all of Kendai and mine's half shouting had been a little louder than we intended. "Hey! What's going on?" We heard him say. Him. Reme. Kendai and I slowly turned. It seemed that we both had a slight crush…

"Nothing," Kendai said sweet as sugar. "You should probably be getting back to sleep."

"Um, I'm not tired though." Reme said. "What was your name again? I know Amera told me what it was last night but for the life of me I can't remember…" Kendai looked a bit put out at that. I had talked to him first; I therefore had the upper hand.

"My name is Kendai." She said, put out. Later after changing Reme's bandages (he was hit on his side by some falling debris as he left the city) and talking to him for a bit more, Kendai and I went out for a breath of fresh air and a long talk.

Since we talked about so many things, I won't write all of what we said here, I can't even remember all of it! But either way the most interesting part of the conversation was doubtless this;

"So it seems you have all of the luck with the men." Kendai sighed as we walked along side of our own wagon, careful not to let anyone see us.

"All the luck with men?" I replied. "Just because Reme remembered my name and not yours?"

"Well, Reme obviously likes you," Kendai said. "And what about Sheath!"

Sheath. I had forgotten about him. Sheath was the only child of Dagger who had long been a friend of Claidi, my mother. For some reason or another, when Sheath and I were young we were friends and once we got to the age when we realized that we had cooties or the like we went our separate ways. But it seemed that Sheath still harbored feelings for me…feelings which weren't returned!

After the long walk with Kendai, her mother called to her from her wagon and I decided to go and see how Reme was doing. All during my talk to Kendai that Reme hadn't strayed too far from my thoughts. I still am pondering this. Why? Anyway, when I got to the wagon, Reme was already up and sitting in the chair where I had slept the night before! It seemed that he had decided that he was well.

"Apparently you're feeling better." I said. That was one of my bolder moments. As you can tell I'm a bit timid. I guess it comes from having a mother who always was bold for you, oh well.

"Yes." Reme replied. "Your father visited me while you were gone." My father? I still wonder why he was there but that doesn't matter. All that matters is what was said after that. "Argul told me that once we get to Hultas, there is going to be a dance or festival of some sort…" His voice trailed off much like mine had the night before. "I was wondering…could you teach me how to dance like a Hulta? I know no dances whatsoever and I thought that I'd ask you before Kendai because…"

My heat was thumping in my chest. Go on, my very being urged, why did you pick me over Kendai?

"Because I did." He finished. How sweet, I thought.

"Yes, of course I can teach you to dance." I said. "If you're feeling up to it I'll teach you tomorrow…we'll probably reach Hultas shortly after that so any later than tomorrow will probably just be a waste of time."

"Tomorrow it is!" Reme looked pleased. "I can't wait."

Why is the morning coming so slowly? Here I am, wide awake in bed and the sun hasn't even come up over the horizon! There is definitely something about that Reme that makes me open my eyes a little further, my step bounce a little higher, but I must keep my mind off of that if I ever wish to fall back to sleep.

Kendai is jealous, I think, of me. Perhaps it's not so that she likes Reme, but that she likes Sheath! Maybe she doesn't know that I detest him? No, detest is too strong a word…strong dislike though! And it's definitely not my fault if he likes me! Oh well.


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

The day is over. I still am not sure today actually took place, perhaps it was just a dream, but either way I'm still I awe. Here's what happened; I woke to a soft voice calling to me to get up. His voice. Reme's. Apparently Kendai hadn't bothered to wake me up.

"Amera!" He said. "Come on! If you don't get up now we might never get the dance lessons in." He said that with a dash of anxiety, a dash of playfulness in his voice. He said that in that deep voice that made me want to do back flips all over the dust covered yard.

"Ok! Alright already!" I replied trying to make my voice match his playfulness and tone, but in a more feminine manner. "I'll meet you by your wagon in twenty minutes." After a mad dash to be ready and looking as good as I could make myself look without being obviously trying to look good…confusing, eh? If that makes sense…

We started right away. Today was a rest day, you see the poor horses were about ready to drop dead and there truly was no other way than to rest them, even so close to Hultas.

At first I could think of no way to play the music in order to teach him the steps. He suggested singing. I was hesitant but eventually I became used to it.

I don't think I'll ever forget it, the singing and laughing. Feeling his body close to mine, so close I could feel his warm breath upon my cheek. We danced all morning and into the afternoon, not even realizing that so much time had pasted!

Unfortunately, others did notice. Father sent Jame looking for me after I didn't turn up at lunch. Reme and I were in the middle of a tricky step, my voice ringing out the beat. Jame decided it would be funny to sneak up behind us. Ha ha, hilarious.

As it turned out, I jumped and screamed at Jame's loud "Boo!" And Reme instinctually tried to protect me. At least I think that's what he was doing. No matter, we all ended up on the ground and then I heard a yelp of pain. It was Reme. Jame had landed on Reme's side and putting pressure on a barely healed wound definitely wasn't a good thing to do.

Reme had to be rushed back to the 'infirmary wagon'. As we passed I could have sworn I saw Kendai. She was smiling. I woke up this morning and saw that Kendai had left without me again. In truth I still don't totally understand why she is angry with me. After going through my everyday chores, I went to pay Reme a visit.

On the way over to the wagon where Reme had been, I spotted a small fleck on the horizon. That 'fleck' was Hultas. A little spark ignited in me, I was happy to be home.

I continued on until I reached Reme's wagon. Finding him fast asleep, I swallowed my disappointment and began making my way back to my own wagon. That's when he appeared out of nowhere. Sheath. The idiot didn't even give me a chance to hide, I was caught in the open and I reacted like a deer in the headlights.

"Er, hi, Sheath." I said in response to his full-hearted hello. The wagons were rumbling on by and if we waited to long we would get left behind. Sheath took no notice to this, as I glanced worriedly around looking for escape, he beamed. "We, um, probably should get back to the wagons." I said.

He didn't even look put out, he simply said; "Yes, I agree, we probably should, but at least I saw you and that definitely brightens my day." Sheath didn't move. He just stood there. Grinning. I couldn't take it anymore, I fled and hoped to God that Sheath would just stand there and either get left behind or get run over by a wagon. Sadly I did not get my wish.

The day moved agonizingly slow. I didn't see Reme, Kendai, or anyone else until we reached Hultas. Hultas. I didn't remember how much I had missed it! The entire town was made up of temporary structures, permanent ones accenting the place only every few blocks. The roads were paved, though, and a great stone totem rose up in the middle of it all, the flag of the Hultas waving proudly, high above its people.

The flag pole was located directly in the center of Hultas, in the middle of the square where a dance would be held that night. A wonderful dance. One that I shall remember. Forever. And ever!

It took me a long time to prepare for the festival. Fifteen minutes before the first dance of the evening I scurried from my small room and arrived just in time. There was but one problem: Sheath was there, and Reme was no where to be found. What a way to start out the night! Was the first thought that came to mind as Sheath began making his way to me. Then, I felt it. A shiver of delight raced down my spin as someone tapped my shoulder. It was him. Reme.

"May I have this dance?" I heard that voice ask me. I spun around to face him.

"Why, I'd be honored to dance with you!" Was my distinguished reply, but as I looked in his eyes and saw them sparkle, I knew 'honor' and politeness had nothing to do with it.

We danced every dance except for one, and that was the final one. Instead of dancing, Reme took my hand and led me off away from the crowds. We sat on a bench as far away from the excitement as we could possibly be and still hear the music drifting around us. When we sat down, Reme reached for my hand and his touch sent electricity running all through me.

I never knew a person could feel like that! He leaned toward me and I toward him and I was SURE he was going to kiss me. I'll never know, though. You see, my dear fictitious friend, my darling mother chose this precise moment to reveal herself.

"Remel, I'd like to speak to you for a second." She looked pointedly at me. "Alone." Grumbling I went off, back to the party. The odd thing is, I was walking away, Mother's hand came out from under her cloak and her wedding ring was missing. I wonder what happened to it? Ah, well, I'll just have to ask her later.

Now it's late, and all in all it was a wonderful day! I very much enjoyed it. Wait, what was that-


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

There is soot on this page. The edge of the binding is scorched black color and the smell of smoke shall never leave these pages.

It is right now near two o'clock in the morning but I dare not sleep. I am writing by the light of the city with continues to burn in the distance. I should probably start at the beginning…

I was writing along in this very book when I heard a loud BOOM! Wondering what it was brought me from my writing desk to my small bedroom window. Somehow this journal ended up in my pocket although how that happened I can't even begin to guess!

Mother came running into my room mumbling something about getting ready; she thrust a package into my arms along with my belongings from the wagon which I hadn't yet unpacked. She pushed me out the door and through a few more rooms until I was out on the street. After a quick kiss, she shoved me out into the night and ordered me to run.

I was surprised to see Reme there but by the look on his face I could tell that now was not the time to talk. I disregarded this.

"What's going on?" I asked dumbfounded, smoke rose in the distance and I was almost positive I could hear screams.

"The city's burning." Reme replied and then he took my hand and we ran out into the dark. It wouldn't be dark for long. I heard someone yelling my name and I turned to see Kendai and Sheath rushing toward me. That Sheath! I remember thinking, why do I always get saddled with him? That was the last clear thought I had for a long while, after that the world dissolved into chaos.

All of the sudden the building near us exploded and tiny shards of glass flew through the air. A bit of glass cut my cheek and I shrieked with fright, although I'm a bit embarrassed to say that now, a bit of glass was enough to make me shriek…but you have to understand dear friend, we were all scared and even that occurring was enough to get us going.

Before we really knew what had hit us, we were sprinting away and buildings were exploding right and left. I know this sounds silly, but just when everything was climaxing and the fires were everywhere and the blood-curdling screams of angst were thick in the air, everything slowed down for me. My movements felt like I was moving through maple syrup and my vision sharpened. That's when I saw her, a little girl trapped inside of a building that looked like it had been inflamed for quite some time by then.

"Reme!" I shouted. "Look!" I had to repeat myself a couple times and by the time he finally looked, the state of the house was even worse. I watched shaking as Reme raced inside and scooped up the little girl.

"What's her name?" What a stupid thing to ask at a time like that, but ask I did.

"Windal." Reme said. "That's all she had to time to say before she lost consciousness." And then we were on our way again, dodging this, ducking under that, and then Hultas was behind us, and we were on the open plane there was no where to go but away, and away we went.

We kept walking and walking until Kendai fainted with exhaustion, and then we kept walking with Sheath carrying her. We walked until we reached a giant stone poking up in the middle of the endless sand which seemed to stretch in every direction. That stone formation is where I am now.

We are far away from Hultas and it's been a long, long while since the town first began to burn, yet I can still write from the light of it. I can no longer hold my head up to write and my thoughts are still a bit muddled in my mind, but one thing is certain; no matter what it takes, I will find the one who did this! If it is what I must do, I will travel to the Dark Towers themselves! I will find them, and I'll take my revenge!


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Sand. There is sand in every direction! Sand, sand, sand, SAND! Well…there is sand in almost every direction; I refuse to look that way, though. I do not want to see the smoke on the horizon, which would be worse than even the horrible SAND.

We (Reme, Kendai, Sheath, and me) talked it over during breakfast. We're basing a whole lot of our plan on guesswork, and even more of it on circumstance but that's alright, at least we HAVE a plan! The plan? We strike out in the general distance of the Dark Towers and pick up allies on the way…simply a brilliant plan, I know!

If you could talk back, friend, now is definitely the time to do it…what am I doing? Asking a piece of paper of help! I just get so frustrated though, the sand is hot on my bare feet and it gets everywhere…on the small amount of food we have from my pack, in our clothes, just EVERYWHERE. I hate sand.

The little girl that we saved from the rubble still hasn't awoken, although Kendai woke up just about the same time as all of the rest of us did. That poor little girl though! We had to carry her all days, rotating turns when we could barely stand on our own two feet ourselves…walking.

That's another thing I hate. Endless walking! We walked and walked. All. Day. Long. Right now we are taking refuge in a shallow trench we dug. Digging it was certainly a pleasure. We dug into the hot sand until we reached the sand that was freezing cold and containing some ground water. There wasn't enough water to drink but to lie on that cool, damp sand after a long day of walking in the hot sun felt like the greatest thing in the entire WORLD at that moment!

The stars shine brightly overhead and they simmer and dance throughout the heavens. They make everything seem alright, but everything isn't alright. Everything is about as wrong as it can get.

I'm too tired to get into the rights and wrongs of the world. I'm too tired to do anything at the moment. My hand is moving itself across the paper as if it has a will of its own and it's desperate to write some secret down so the world will not forget it...but there is no secret. I'm not worth anything, maybe I never was.

I remember when all was good in the world, was the dance really only yesterday night? Now I just sit here. There is nothing else to say. And so I listen. I hear the breeze flying over the sand swirling it around making pretty designs everywhere…And there is something else I hear, like music on the wind. What is that? I shall see.

The music was not music. Kind of an oxymoronic statement but that's ok, you won't tell will you? Ha! Listen to me…I'm just nervous.

The music that was not music was…something else. There were people making the 'music' and they are still making this hellish noise that eats you alive, it sucks all of the warm out of a person and right now I am huddled up against Reme hoping that the people making that noise would just leave!

They haven't noticed us yet but that doesn't mean anything…the pit we dug isn't all that deep, someone could stray from the main group any second now and notice us here. They aren't good people or whatever sort of beings they are, I don't know how I know I just do but we must somehow get out of here.

We must escape.

I can still hear the music from here and it gives me the shivers every time I think about our near escape. So this is what happened; we were all crouched done in the hole when suddenly Windal jerked wide awake. I don't know what possessed her but suddenly she gave a wild, wordless scream!

The music that isn't music got louder and heavy foot steps pounded in our direction. Reme jumped to his feet, my pen raised as some sort of weapon. Unfortunately, I had been sitting on Reme's lap and so I came up with him.

The things running toward us looked like people, except their eyes burned red and their skin was so white they looked as if they were the walking dead. My voice mingled with Windal's as I too gave a loud cry.

Kendai and Sheath proceeded to stand as well, makeshift weapons raised they posed to fight. The weird beings that Reme would later tell me were albinos (?) looked down upon us as if we were food. The music stopped abruptly for a second, the moment of silence before the storm.

Windal ran like a mad person out of the pit and up to the albinos. She screeched and yelled and stomped up and down upon the ground. Reme looked at me about this time, and I met his eyes. The scene before us was so comical we would have laughed at another time…if we didn't think that our lives could be in danger.

Suddenly the albinos started backing away. They made some weird noise and I think they might have been laughing. Those weren't human albinos whatever they were!

Then the music that wasn't music got louder and louder and louder until I thought my ear lobes were sure to pop! Reme, Kendai, Sheath, and I ran off in the opposite direction as fast as we could. Windal followed us quite closely behind.

Then, it just stopped. I took my hands from my ears and looked back and the albino things were gone as was the music. Windal stood just behind us and we all turned to look at the little girl. She responded with a large, childish grin and then we all looked back to where the albinos had been.

The music began again a little while ago but we all agree that the things won't bother us anymore; Windal did something odd and scared them away or something. Or so we hope.


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

It has taken me a while to get around to writing more of the events of my life. There really wasn't anything much to write so you didn't miss anything.

We trailed through the desert, silent and grim. Only Windal did anything much, she walked with this little skip-hop for most of the first and second day. By then, however, we all were exhausted, hungry, and irritable.

Confusion played through my thoughts. _What now?_ I asked myself over and over again. It was apparent that similar thoughts were running through the minds of my companions.

I must say that I have grown up more these past few days than I have ever in my life, and I notice a change in Kendai, too. Sheath is quiet most times so I don't know much of how he feels. Reme and I talk as we walk our ongoing conversation the only rewarding thing of the entire trip.

Then, on the fifth day just as the smoke from the ruined Hultas disappeared from the horizon, smoke appeared from a completely different direction! At first I thought I had been turned around somehow, what with days of walking in the hot sun with little to no food, I was pretty near delusional!

I swirled in a circle and looked back where I thought the smoke had been from Hultas and noticed a slight wisp of smoke ascending towards the heavens. That's when I realized: the smoke I was seeing as not Hultas, I hadn't been turned around! It was Peshamba!

"Oh!" I remarked, still a bit phased, my voice hoarse. I cleared my throat and everyone paused to look at me, their eyes a bit glazes, curiosity stamped on their features. "Peshamba!" I said, pointing to the dark clouds billowing upward in the distance.

To my amusement, they all spun about as I did when I first saw the far-off smoke. With the encouragement of possible salvation from the horrid desert, we pressed on with unmatched fervor.

I had thought that Windal couldn't be any stranger, but at the rest of our spirits rose, hers did too. Her eyes, a lovely deep blue color, widened and she skipped a bit ahead of the rest of us. Every time she jumped into the air she went at least two feet off the ground. I looked to Kendai in wonderment and she started giggling.

Her laugh was infectious and before long we were all rolling about on the ground in the middle of the desert! I dare say we were all mad.

Windal stopped, hearing our uproarious laughter and turned back to us, tilting her head to one side which only added to the hilarity. After a while we finally came back to our sense.

"Wow." Reme said once he had caught his breath. "That kid is insane." He stood and ruffled Windal's hair fondly.

We all got up and attempted to dust the sand off our clothes, but by then it was pretty much grafted into the fabric from days of sleeping in the sand. Several hours of nothing but endless walking later, we had Peshamba firmly in our sights.

The sun began to fall so we stopped to camp the night out here. And tomorrow, oh tomorrow, we shall be there! Hope hangs thick in the air like a perfume, breaking through the coarse nothingness that is the desert. Oh and how sweet it smells!


End file.
